Canada Stocks End Flat; RIM Falls 7.5% As Lenovo Bid Talk Downplayed

By: MT Newswires

Posted: 1/28/2013 4:10:00 PM

Referenced Stocks: AAPL

Canada's main stock market, the Toronto Stock Exchange, closed
little changed Monday, matching markets in the U.S. where the Dow
and S&P 500 were also near flat amid some signs a month long
rally may be coming to an end there.

The TSX was twice up more than 40 points in morning trade,
buoyed by the release of what was initially seen as strong U.S.
durable goods data. But just as analysts began to have second
thoughts on the quality of that data, out came poor U.S. pending
home sales numbers. Together, the two sets of data reminded
investors and traders that the U.S. economoy is still fighting to
recover after the most recent recession.

Also weighing on the TSX was most active Research In Motion
(RIM.TO, RIMM) which lost 7.5% ahead of the launch of its eagerly
awaited Blackberry 10 on Wednesday. The company is hoping BB10 is a
game changer after it lost huge share of the smart phone market to
rivals Apple (
AAPL
) and Samsung. The stock was also seen under pressure on reports
that Lenovo is downplaying speculation it is considering making a
bid for RIM.

The sectors were evenly split between winners and losers. The
Telecom and Financial sectors were the biggest gainers in
percentage terms while Info Tech (which includes RIM) was the
biggest loser. Energy and Metals & Mining both lost small
ground.

Gold futures for February delivery settled down 0.17% at
$1,652.90 an ounce, a three-week low. Driving price movement today
was mixed U.S. economic data, and a climbing greenback.

Oil futures added $0.56 in today's session to close at $96.44 a
barrel. Adding some upside momentum in trading today was tensions
in the Middle East. However, mixed economic data from the U.S.
pushed futures lower.